A youth group criticized the Department of Education (DepEd) for claiming that the First Quarter under the distance learning set-up has been, so far, successful.
The National Union of Students in the Philippines (NUSP) blasted DepEd for concluding that Quarter 1 of the current School Year (SY) was successful, noting the ongoing challenges and problems being experienced by students, teachers, and their parents under the current learning set-up.
“It is obvious that the leadership of DepEd is not aware of the real situation of the students and teachers,” said NUSP National President Jandeil Roperos in Filipino.
NUSP issued this statement following the pronouncement of DepEd undersecretary for Curriculum and Instruction Diosdado San Antonio in a television interview that the previous grading period was a success.
“I think our first quarter was held without many glitches so we can also say that the distance learning delivery modality was successfully implemented in the first quarter,” San Antonio said in Filipino.
However, the NUSP strongly opposed DepEd’s statement. “If the success that San Antonio refers to is success in torturing educational stakeholders, they were truly successful in their neglect and were deaf to the calls and grievances of students, parents, and teachers,” Roperos said.
NUSP also blasted San Antonio’s remark regarding the requirement load of students. The official said that while DepEd endeavors not to overwhelm the students with too much load, they should also put in more effort to learn.
Roperos said that this is very insensitive of DepEd because many students are already struggling with meeting the academic requirements due to the shortages in the education sector.
“Even if only one requirement per subject is given to the students per week, if they do not have access to gadgets and the internet, it also does not matter because most students have no means to create and pass the requirements,” Roperos said.
NUSP added that with modular learning, “it is inevitable that students will have heavier load because the modules are not enough and they usually do not get it on time.”
NUSP is urging DepEd and the government to come up with a comprehensive plan to ensure learning continuity amid the pandemic and other emergencies.
The youth group also maintained that instead of a “militaristic” approach, a medical and scientific approach should be used to curb the spread of the virus. This, NUSP said, will also ensure the safe return of students and teachers to schools.
“On a closer look, saying that the complex distance learning is a success, proves that the DepEd is running away from its responsibility to students and they covering up the fact that many students and faculty have been risking their lives in order to continue education in the middle of the pandemic,” Roperos ended.